The question of whether US President Barack Obama is a muslim has been around like forever. Recently, it raised its ugly head again, when one of the speakers at the Republican National Convention was reported to state that he was certain that this silly myth was true. Some commentators pointed to the fact that, as more than 40% of Republican voters also believed this myth, it shouldn't be surprising that at least one speaker at their convention would share this belief.
Of course we know it's not true. We know that Obama is, and has always been, a devout Christian.
But what if he were indeed muslim. Would it matter? Why would it, as long as he is an effective President? The question of whether the President is a muslim, besides being ridiculous, is a very sinister one, as it implies that a muslim would be unfit to be president.
I think this reflects the relatively narrow-minded attitudes of Americans (sorry), compared to even other countries of similar culture. For example, there are plenty of muslim members of parliament in both the UK and Australia, and nobody seems to have a problem with that. Perhaps it's time Americans reconsidered their stance.
Doing sociology and philosophy in real time by looking at developments in contemporary Western politics and culture, from a Moral Libertarian perspective. My mission is to stop the cultural systemist left and the authoritarian right from destroying the West's Enlightenment traditions.
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